The Gift of Gab

I'm sure you have all seen this video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JmA2ClUvUY
It's exactly what Sam sounds like right now.  No joke.  ALL THE TIME.  It's kind of funny, actually.

Moment I Wish I Had a Tape Recorder

#1204:  Random outbursts from Carter shouting answers to the iPad when watching Go Diego Go! while wearing headphones.  My favorite of the night ~ "The beluga whale!"  Five-year old + Ipad + Netflix + headphones = hilarity. 

#1205:  Carter singing while in the bathroom (happens quite frequently).  This particular episode featured his version of the chorus to "Airplanes" by B.O.B.  Carter's version~ "Airplanes are shooting stars, shooting stars.  Make a wish now, make a wish now."  Here is a clip of the true version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_cpmLufB_E

Love that boy!

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!  No tricks for us, but here are my three treats.  Carter took his role as Batman very seriously.  Can you tell by the look on his face?

House Divided

A typical Sunday conversation in the Bevins household (yesterday, it just happened to be during the Vikings vs Cardinals football game): Carter: "Is that the green team?" Bobbie: "No honey, that's the purple team; the Vikings. We don't like the purple team. The green team is the Packers." Carter: "We like the green team, right?" Bobbie: "Yes, we like the green team, the Packers." Ryan: "No, we like the blue team. The blue team is the Bears. We like the Bears." Carter (who is sitting right beside me): "No, we like the green team, right Mom? Yup, the green team." Score one for Mom this week. Next week will probably be the opposite. My fear is that if Ryan and I keep pulling him back and forth in trying to influence his team preference, he'll completely rebel and become a Vikings fan. That would be a tragedy. Purple does not mix well with blue and green.

In other news, the twins have started rolling. Zac quickly and easily rolls from tummy to back. Sam does the opposite - back to tummy. Both are pretty proud of themselves when they do it. I don't blame them. I'm usually pretty proud of myself when I manage to roll over to get out of bed in the morning. My concern is that Sam has hence started to roll onto his tummy while sleeping. Since the "rule" is to always have babies sleep on their backs, do we start using a sleep positioner, or do we just let him sleep on his tummy? In my experience, babies tend to sleep better on their tummies, and since we could definitely use all the extra sleep we can get, I think maybe we'll just leave him alone.

When Carter was a baby and started teething, he would wake up in the middle of the night screaming and inconsolable. We discovered that a dose of Tylenol and turning on the movie
Barnyard was a cure all. Once the movie started, all crying would cease and he'd be completely tuned in to the movie. All I could figure at the time was that the bright colors of the cartoon intrigued him. Luckily, it was also a movie that adults are able to enjoy. He still likes that movie today. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Ryan recently made a similar discovery with Zac. What disturbs me is not that he found another TV show to mesmerize and calm our child (Hey- whatever works, right? Especially if it's 2 a.m.), but the particular show that does the trick. Have you ever happened to see Yo Gabba Gabba? If not, you're lucky. If you have, do you agree that the show is slightly disturbing? Indescribably strange-looking characters dancing and singing. Don't get me wrong, I understand the appeal for babies - bright colors, repetitive songs, and - as Ryan calls them - fat beats. :) However, this is a person who intentionally never tuned into Barney or Teletubbies with her first child in order to avoid the annoyance of strange, brightly-colored, sing-songy characters. But like I said, desperate sleep-deprived parents will do just about anything to silence the crying. I may have to invest in some spa-like music to play through headphones whenever a situation calls for the Gabbas. Mom will need a calming method to distract me from crying too.

Please Be Gentle...

...I'm new at this. My intention with this blog is to stay connected to family, friends, and anyone else who may wish to take a peek into the chaotic world of the Bevins Five. Ok... so maybe this is just an outlet for me to solicit sympathy for being the only female in a house shared with 3 active boys and a kid-at-heart husband. Can you blame me?

Let's start by describing our current family statistics. Ryan and Bobbie have been married for 10 years. Five years into that blessed union, a bouncing baby boy was born. He was dubbed Carter Ryan Bevins and has provided our lives with 5 years of trials, triumphs, and complete joy. Four years and 10 months following Carter's arrival, two more boys were inducted into the group on May 22, 2011. Isaac (Zac) and Samuel made their appearance after 80 long days on hospital bed rest with Mom. Their arrival on the scene occurred quite quickly that lovely May morning. We all were thrilled and relieved to have two healthy babies to take home a week later.

What follows will be a glimpse into our world filled with brotherly love, madcap mishaps, parenting lessons learned the hard way, and all of the humor that undoubtedly will be the result. Welcome to our humble home! Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee and hang out for a while.